Ready For Anything

The Strength To Meet Our Struggles

11.12.23 [Ephesians 6:10-18] River of Life (24th Sunday after Pentecost)

Yesterday, our nation celebrated Veterans’ Day, taking time to thank the men and women of our armed forces who have devoted their lives to defending and protecting our national interests, freedoms, and our very lives. Each branch—the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard—has a distinct role in keeping our country safe. They deal with specific threats. They face different kinds of danger. They train for unique scenarios. They rely on distinct tools for protection. They have the same goals but they are not assigned the same missions. Each branch of the armed forces does their job so their people can enjoy peace. We need each of them. Yes, vets even the coast guard. So it's good for us all to pause & honor this service.

But November 11th wasn’t always called Veterans’ Day. For around 30 years it was known as Armistice Day, because on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month World War I came to an end. The hope of Armistice Day was this truly marked the end of “the war to end all wars.” One hundred years later, the idea that any war could end all wars sounds like a pipe dream. If only it worked that way.

Life in this world will always be marked by simmering conflicts, bloody battles, and large-scale war efforts. Despite idealistic efforts to outlaw war, we cannot eliminate this ugliness from our world.

That’s not just true in a geo-political sense. It has often been said: Each person is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Sometimes, that battle is fought at work. Other times it’s at home. Very often those battles are internal—struggling against themselves and the past.

In today’s reading from Ephesians 6, Paul directs our attention to the ugly personal battle that none of us cannot eliminate from our lives. But this battle is different. God tells us (Eph. 6:12) Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the unseen realm.

We must listen well when God says our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Your enemy in this battle is not your neighbor. Your enemy is not someone who lives in another country or even someone who has a different idea about what would be best for our country or our world. People may cooperate with these spiritual forces of evil, but it is only because they’ve been overcome by the Evil One. We ought to pray for their deliverance not their destruction.

We are engaged in a cosmic, spiritual war. Our struggle is against Satan & his evil angels, against the influence & pressure of the sinful world in which we live, and against the sinful flesh that clings to us.

So what are we to do? We must understand what we are up against and what we have to rely upon. We must know the strength we have to meet our struggles. (Eph. 6:10-11) Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God. Only then can we stand firm against all the devil’s schemes.

What exactly are the devil’s schemes? The Scriptures give us crucial intel. The devil is a powerful, but fallen angel. A created being who rebelled against God and was run out of heaven. He is the father of lies--an active deceiver, an accomplished trickster, and an ardent adversary of God and all his people. (1st Peter 5:8) He is a roaring lion who is looking for inattentive souls to devour. Remarkably, Peter implores us to resist him and stand firm in the faith too. You cannot take a foe like this lightly.

How does the devil operate? Lies are his native language. Satan is a one-trick pony, with a forked-tongue. He tempts and he accuses.

He knows mankind well so he customizes temptations. When we are young, he baits his hook with things like pleasure & independence. You’re only young once. No one will get hurt. You deserve it.

Or he makes sins look like virtues. Vanity and conceit are disguised as being neat and clean, self-respecting and health-conscious. I’m not a jerk, I’m speaking truth. I’m not a fraud, I like to make people feel good about themselves. I’m not greedy, I’m clever & careful. I’m not a gossip, I’m just warning people so they don’t fall into traps.

As we get older, Satan may mix up tactics. He opens our eyes to the failings of people around us. CEOs who swindle. Presidents who lie. Spiritual leaders who sleep around. Suddenly my cheating, my lying, my lusting, my greed, my whatever is small potatoes.

Finally, the trickster loves to bring us into his house of mirrors. He magnifies everything good about us--distorting what we really are. You might be lazy at spiritual things, but you’re a hard-worker at home, and a go-getter around the office. You might be a bad example for your kids, but you’re generous and fun. You might lose your temper with your spouse, but you’re a passionate person. They all knew what they were getting into. I can’t change who I am.

After all this, the devil has us right where he wants us. He’s made us countless offers that we couldn’t—or just plain didn’t— refuse.

That’s when the spiritual blackmailing begins. The accusations start flying. But they aren’t coming out of left-field, each one hits us where we’re weak. Because he knows. He saw. He tempted. So now he accuses.

He works his punch-list of all our trespasses. He causes us to obsess over the irreconcilable sins. Every setback, every adversity is misery sent from above. When the devil was tempting us, he never once mentioned God’s holiness. Now he won’t stop reminding us about it. God’s perfect. He demands the same. You’ll never be good enough. Look how you struggle. That’s not how Christians think. Talk. Act. React. You think you’re one of his chosen ones with a past like that?

Each person fights battles we do not see. Many people recognize that. Their solution is to be kind. And kindness is important. But our kindness, while helpful cannot heal. While it is valuable, it does not give victory. We need a kindness of a greater kind. God’s Word speak of that, too. The kindness and love of God our Savior appeared and God saved us, not because of any of the courageous or righteous things we had done, but because of his powerful mercy.

In the Old Testament book of the prophet Isaiah, there is a moment when God is surveying the spiritual battlefield. Sinners are lost and wounded, selfish and struggling. All mankind has abandoned God’s mission to live just and righteous lives. The world is revolting against its Creator.

God is displeased but he will not surrender to Satan. He is appalled that there is no one who loves truth or righteousness left, but he will not concede victory. So he steps in. (Is. 59:17) He puts on righteousness as his breastplate, the helmet of salvation on his head, and garments that signal that he is coming to take back what is rightfully his. And our Redeemer goes on a rampage to win us back.

Jesus lived what God promised through his prophet Isaiah. Jesus’ heart was devoted to righteousness—doing things God’s way no matter what others thought or what it cost him personally. Our salvation was on his mind. He wrapped himself in a deep desire to bring us back home.

Jesus came to earth to wage war. But it didn’t look like that at all. We don’t see Jesus engaging in hand-to-hand combat. He didn’t recruit the bravest to join him in battle. He didn’t teach his disciples to march in formation.

To us, it seems silly to even suggest such a thing. Jesus is a peace-loving man. But that’s not what the people of his day hoped Jesus would be. When Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus women and children, with the lunch a young boy brought with him their first instinct was to try to make Jesus become a king. They weren’t suggesting he run for office.

They wanted him to raise an army and lead a revolt against Rome!

But this wasn’t a one-time mistake. On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus’ political and religious enemies treated him like he was leading an insurrection. They arrested him with force. They came with clubs and swords. Jesus’ own disciple, Peter, responded by drawing his own sword and striking one of the men. But Jesus told him to put away his sword. Whoever lives by that sword will die by that sword, he warned. Jesus came to defeat the Evil One, the Devil, and give us victory.

The only way he could accomplish that was by standing in our place. So that is what he did on the cross. There on Calvary, Jesus stood firm for us. Though he was righteous, he was treated like a scorned criminal. Though he had only ever spoken the truth, he allowed evil people to lie about him. Though he loved peace, he experienced the distress of hell. He stood in our place, suffered and died, so that we might be saved.

This is how God demonstrated his strength. This is his powerful love. This is what he gives to us to wear for our struggles. We are called to stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around our waist. Belts always tell the truth about us. But this one does more than that. It also tells us the truth about our God. It reminds us that he is righteous & merciful.

We stand firm with the breastplate of righteousness defending our hearts and the helmet of salvation guarding our minds. When the Devil tries to blackmail us and accuse us of all the sins we’ve committed, we rely on Christ’s perfect record. He is our Righteousness. His blood cleanses & renews our hearts. Jesus is the reason we are saved.

We are called to stand firm with our feet fitted with Gospel readiness and our bodies shielded by our faith. The Gospel, the good news that God has come to rescue and redeem us, empowers us to go and share the good news with many more who are lost and don’t know what they are struggling against and why it’s too much for them. As Satan shoots his fiery darts our way, we rely on our faith. God always keeps his promises. He is always faithful. The God who redeemed us from this Evil One will also keep us safe from his arrows now. He also gives us a reliable weapon, his Word. The sword of the Spirit defends us against all the lies we encounter in this world. Our sinful flesh tells us the struggle is a lost cause. The sinful world tells us that our struggle won’t make one bit of difference. The wicked foe tells us that our struggle will leave us weary. But God says something different. He says he will be with us in our struggles against temptation. He will provide a way out. He will give us the strength we need to bear up under such pressure. He will give us rest when we are weary. God gives us the victory and the strength to stand firm. Amen.